Just when you thought it couldn't get any better !

[dynt 0]

dgeesi0 said:

scales and spectrum. im not talking about rallying in wrc.you can do grass rallying local events for next to nothing on private land.there are aerodrome set ups . similar to what rally cameraman was doing which arent dear.fun days out.

also some of the set ups im on about run into tens of thousands.not a couple of grand.keep in perspective.one i tested was about 3-4 grand recently.

so if i did the cheaper end of the scale as what i put above i could get a cheap end scooby, older evo or mk2 escort and have fun for the sameish price of a decent high end wheel set up.

nice to here you did proper rallying. B)

Thanks just a small collection of some of the cars i have driven, i was a National seeded driver back in the 80s and 90s 

[TonyRickard 17]

dgeesi0 said:

scales and spectrum. im not talking about rallying in wrc.you can do grass rallying local events for next to nothing on private land.there are aerodrome set ups . similar to what rally cameraman was doing which arent dear.fun days out.

Yeh you can do it quite cheap, though don't understimate the costs of repairs for these older cars and accidents do happen!

I ran an Avenger and a Kadett GT/E for road rallying back in the 80s only for a small number of events but the costs just got too much. I was maybe a bit too ambitious with the GT/E as it suited the then road rally regs but a Sunbeam or Escort might have been a cheaper option to run, I spent (to me) a small fortune on fuel injection parts!

I can see both attractions of running a cheap(ish) rally car and nice sim racing equipment that you can use any time you like. I just don't think it is a straight choice if you can afford to buy high end sim racing equipment you would be better off buying a real car as they fulfil different wants IMHO.

[dynt 0]

TonyRickard said:

dgeesi0 said:

scales and spectrum. im not talking about rallying in wrc.you can do grass rallying local events for next to nothing on private land.there are aerodrome set ups . similar to what rally cameraman was doing which arent dear.fun days out.

Yeh you can do it quite cheap, though don't understimate the costs of repairs for these older cars and accidents do happen!

I ran an Avenger and a Kadett GT/E for road rallying back in the 80s only for a small number of events but the costs just got too much. I was maybe a bit too ambitious with the GT/E as it suited the then road rally regs but a Sunbeam or Escort might have been a cheaper option to run, I spent (to me) a small fortune on fuel injection parts!

I can see both attractions of running a cheap(ish) rally car and nice sim racing equipment that you can use any time you like. I just don't think it is a straight choice if you can afford to buy high end sim racing equipment you would be better off buying a real car as they fulfil different wants IMHO.

Its funny Tony the other day i was trying to explain road rallying to some one, its where every one in the day cut their teeth before progressing to stage rallying, however in retrospect we must have been completely nuts flat out over 200 miles at night over non closed roads in gr 4 escorts and the like today seems like insanity.
I must admit thou sim racing satisfys  a itch which had been lingering for a while since i retired.  Seeing Kenny McKinstry blast round Lurgan park the other day thou made me think i could still be going now ! 

[Porkhammer 78]

dynt said:

Its funny Tony the other day i was trying to explain road rallying to some one, its where every one in the day cut their teeth before progressing to stage rallying, however in retrospect we must have been completely nuts flat out over 200 miles at night over non closed roads in gr 4 escorts and the like today seems like insanity.
I must admit thou sim racing satisfys  a itch which had been lingering for a while since i retired.  Seeing Kenny McKinstry blast round Lurgan park the other day thou made me think i could still be going now ! 

Björn Waldegård was in his 70's and still made some appearances in smaller rallies for the fun of it. You're never too old to have fun.

Shame we'll never see Waldegård drive again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXYFpraIhIY

[JZStudios 631]

I think it's also different in the Europe. The U.S. is pretty shy for rally events, and maybe it's because I'm only 21 and I'm making almost zero money, I would really rather just spend that money on more important things. Whereas my friend who's making bank, well, he could save up for a month or two and buy everything required for the higher end. So that plays a factor too. I've got a total of maybe $700 in my race rig and about $800 for my entire PC setup, but that also took years of saving.
That is a nice handbrake though. If I want super high end things I at least have the means of doing so myself, so I guess that counts for something. Still trying to find a handle to replace the one in my Fanatec HB.

[cjl9 12]

dynt said:

TonyRickard said:

dgeesi0 said:

scales and spectrum. im not talking about rallying in wrc.you can do grass rallying local events for next to nothing on private land.there are aerodrome set ups . similar to what rally cameraman was doing which arent dear.fun days out.

Yeh you can do it quite cheap, though don't understimate the costs of repairs for these older cars and accidents do happen!

I ran an Avenger and a Kadett GT/E for road rallying back in the 80s only for a small number of events but the costs just got too much. I was maybe a bit too ambitious with the GT/E as it suited the then road rally regs but a Sunbeam or Escort might have been a cheaper option to run, I spent (to me) a small fortune on fuel injection parts!

I can see both attractions of running a cheap(ish) rally car and nice sim racing equipment that you can use any time you like. I just don't think it is a straight choice if you can afford to buy high end sim racing equipment you would be better off buying a real car as they fulfil different wants IMHO.

Its funny Tony the other day i was trying to explain road rallying to some one, its where every one in the day cut their teeth before progressing to stage rallying, however in retrospect we must have been completely nuts flat out over 200 miles at night over non closed roads in gr 4 escorts and the like today seems like insanity.

[cjl9 12]

Ooh! Night time road rallies. Started with local rallies in Oxfordshire and Bucks area.

Then...Motoring News events...Lovely days. Rallied in Mk1 Escort Twin Cams.

[dynt 0]

Porkhammer said:

dynt said:

Its funny Tony the other day i was trying to explain road rallying to some one, its where every one in the day cut their teeth before progressing to stage rallying, however in retrospect we must have been completely nuts flat out over 200 miles at night over non closed roads in gr 4 escorts and the like today seems like insanity.
I must admit thou sim racing satisfys  a itch which had been lingering for a while since i retired.  Seeing Kenny McKinstry blast round Lurgan park the other day thou made me think i could still be going now ! 

Björn Waldegård was in his 70's and still made some appearances in smaller rallies for the fun of it. You're never too old to have fun.

Shame we'll never see Waldegård drive again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXYFpraIhIY

Never new Waldergard but as i said earlier i ran the Stig on a couple of rallies, also talking off old Swedish rally legends i bought Per Eklunds Toyota Supra from the British championship he was really helpful in in explaining the most productive driving style to get the best out of the car, he always struck me as Sweden's answer to Marku Allen really dry sense of humor.

[dynt 0]

cjl9 said:

Ooh! Night time road rallies. Started with local rallies in Oxfordshire and Bucks area.

Then...Motoring News events...Lovely days. Rallied in Mk1 Escort Twin Cams.

After hitting a milk float i decided that night rallies where for braver men than me and went off to do stage rallies.

[TonyRickard 17]

dynt said:

cjl9 said:

Ooh! Night time road rallies. Started with local rallies in Oxfordshire and Bucks area.

Then...Motoring News events...Lovely days. Rallied in Mk1 Escort Twin Cams.

After hitting a milk float i decided that night rallies where for braver men than me and went off to do stage rallies.

On my first event I thought I was doing well as I was catching the car ahead really quickly, then my Cibie Super Oscars picked out a kid's head staring back at me from the back seat of a Sierra and I realised this was a member of the public who was on the route of 40+ rally cars! Mental times.

The amazing thing was there were very few bad accidents that I was aware of anyway, even in National championships which were treated pretty much like stage events, I remember seeing Gwyndaf Evans totally committed, awesome if a bit crazy. I guess it couldn't last but it was great to experience it both as a marshall and driver.

[cjl9 12]

dynt said:

Porkhammer said:

dynt said:

Its funny Tony the other day i was trying to explain road rallying to some one, its where every one in the day cut their teeth before progressing to stage rallying, however in retrospect we must have been completely nuts flat out over 200 miles at night over non closed roads in gr 4 escorts and the like today seems like insanity.
I must admit thou sim racing satisfys  a itch which had been lingering for a while since i retired.  Seeing Kenny McKinstry blast round Lurgan park the other day thou made me think i could still be going now ! 

Björn Waldegård was in his 70's and still made some appearances in smaller rallies for the fun of it. You're never too old to have fun.

Shame we'll never see Waldegård drive again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXYFpraIhIY

Never new Waldergard but as i said earlier i ran the Stig on a couple of rallies, also talking off old Swedish rally legends i bought Per Eklunds Toyota Supra from the British championship he was really helpful in in explaining the most productive driving style to get the best out of the car, he always struck me as Sweden's answer to Marku Allen really dry sense of humor.

Ooh! The bark of that Stratos! Memories of standing in Welsh forests during the RAC.

[cjl9 12]

Let's not forget Waldegard was the first WRC champion when they moved to that format.

[Porkhammer 78]

That's correct, in 1979!                    

[TonyRickard 17]

This thread got me thinking, back in the eighties we didn't have the Internet to find stuff out. Here is the Kadett I owned in 1984 in its original glory just before the RAC Rally it competed in back in 1976:

https://www.chevettes.com/forum/download/file.php?id=3&sid=7e3455174717d65b49ffa9627b26c70b

I sold it in 1986 and it was later restored and converted to RHD:

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d121/GT2200/Kadett%20and%20Chevette/Kadett4.jpg 

I have never seen either of these images until today!

[dynt 0]

Ooh! The bark of that Stratos! Memories of standing in Welsh forests during the RAC.

Loved the RAC particularly the early ones i did 14 in total todays WRC events suck in comparison, back in the 80s they where the biggest spectator event by far in the uk, they reckoned upto 2.5 million spectators over the 5 days, was sight to behold seeing tens of thousands of spectators in Kielder 
at 4 in the morning.

[dynt 0]

TonyRickard said:

dynt said:

cjl9 said:

Ooh! Night time road rallies. Started with local rallies in Oxfordshire and Bucks area.

Then...Motoring News events...Lovely days. Rallied in Mk1 Escort Twin Cams.

After hitting a milk float i decided that night rallies where for braver men than me and went off to do stage rallies.

On my first event I thought I was doing well as I was catching the car ahead really quickly, then my Cibie Super Oscars picked out a kid's head staring back at me from the back seat of a Sierra and I realised this was a member of the public who was on the route of 40+ rally cars! Mental times.

The amazing thing was there were very few bad accidents that I was aware of anyway, even in National championships which were treated pretty much like stage events, I remember seeing Gwyndaf Evans totally committed, awesome if a bit crazy. I guess it couldn't last but it was great to experience it both as a marshall and driver.

First Cibies then Hellas, remember we used to run with 2 different lenses one long range one spread as you where only allowed 2 lamps, thems where the days !

[cjl9 12]

When I was doing London Counties and Motoring News events there were no restrictions.

My headlights, Cibie of course, had 2 x 100 Watt bulbs each, wired to come on together on full beam. Plus 4 Cibies, 2 Fog, 2 Driving, also with 100 W bulbs.

I'm surprised the alternator didn't burn out!

[cjl9 12]

dynt said:

Ooh! The bark of that Stratos! Memories of standing in Welsh forests during the RAC.

Loved the RAC particularly the early ones i did 14 in total todays WRC events suck in comparison, back in the 80s they where the biggest spectator event by far in the uk, they reckoned upto 2.5 million spectators over the 5 days, was sight to behold seeing tens of thousands of spectators in Kielder 
at 4 in the morning.

14 RACs! Bloody hell! I managed 1 RAC, several Welsh, 2 Circuits of Ireland, I Scottish, 1 Acropolis, 1 Finnish

[cjl9 12]

Then...divorce...no money!  :D                                     

[JZStudios 631]

Wow. So, turns out there's some older guys on here. And we're completely off topic. Love it.

[Porkhammer 78]

JZStudios said:

Wow. So, turns out there's some older guys on here. And we're completely off topic. Love it.

I thought my 31 years was old, but apparently it's nothing. ;)

[dynt 0]

JZStudios said:

Wow. So, turns out there's some older guys on here. And we're completely off topic. Love it.

This is the topic reminiscing and telling old war stories, i truly love this game its easy for me because i am basically retired i have put hours and hours in to get to a point where i am truly competitive,I have a mountain of stories i can tell about events i have done the greats i have met. and its one of the few places i can share some of this stuff.

As a side note for those thinking this has no real value its just a game, i would aggressively disagree.I use every trick in the book i have learnt over 2 decades plus to be competitive.I watched every youtube vid the Pork ever made to see how he was so desperately fast.Each day 2000 plus enter the daily events to be fast its a skill set that in so many ways replicates the real thing. Those that master the skills and set the top times do so in comparison with tens of thousands of others.Its impressive, when i do well on dailys or weeklys, i feel a similar achievement as i did doing the real thing.

When i started you could spend 10k on a group 4 escort and compete with the very best at the highest level, now watching the current British championship the top 20 cars are at least a quarter mill apiece. and most who are there are clueless. In my opinion virtual racing will explode in the near future, because it gives what is the club man a genuine chance to compete at the highest level. Pocket boot racing and rallying has demolished Motorsport, the public know it thats why the viewing both live and on tv has plumeted

[cjl9 12]

Porkhammer said:

JZStudios said:

Wow. So, turns out there's some older guys on here. And we're completely off topic. Love it.

I thought my 31 years was old, but apparently it's nothing. ;)

More than double that for me.  That's what i meant about my reflexes when I was using your Fiat setup two days ago.  :)

[cjl9 12]

dynt said:

JZStudios said:

Wow. So, turns out there's some older guys on here. And we're completely off topic. Love it.

When i started you could spend 10k on a group 4 escort and compete with the very best at the highest level, now watching the current British championship the top 20 cars are at least a quarter mill apiece. and most who are there are clueless. 

I feel like the lone voice crying in the wilderness. I DO NOT rave about Group B. It was not the pinnacle of the sport for me, it was the beginning of the end.

When I was rallying ordinary people could buy a fully competitive Gp 4 Escort. My last car was an ex-Boreham BDA - LVX 947 J. And have a full season of rallying. The British Nationals and the Internationals had full 240 entries. For me that was the pinnacle.

When Gp B came along, suddenly we had cars that cost astronomical amounts of money and could be driven properly only by works drivers and a handful of others. 

I bet 2.5 million people didn't walk into the forests to watch the RAC this year.

[TonyRickard 17]

cjl9 said:

I feel like the lone voice crying in the wilderness. I DO NOT rave about Group B. It was not the pinnacle of the sport for me, it was the beginning of the end.

When I was rallying ordinary people could buy a fully competitive Gp 4 Escort. My last car was an ex-Boreham BDA - LVX 947 J. And have a full season of rallying. The British Nationals and the Internationals had full 240 entries. For me that was the pinnacle.

I loved the days of the homologation specials where you could buy a car in the showroom that was pretty darn close to the cars on the rally stages - or at least recognisable! VW don't even think it worth making a Polo R because it would mess up the pecking order strategy with Golf GTIs etc. Not that it would be anything like the WRC car which is probably why they don't see the value.